Hilton Head Island SC December 2, 2022 Members of the Sea Pines community on Hilton Head Island are heartbroken over the loss of “Big George,” a 13-foot alligator that’s been a fixture in the community for years, whose death came at the hands of neighborhood security.

Terri Weiss told WJCL 22 News, a Sea Pines security guard and wildlife officer fired three shots, killing the gator just feet from her home.

“I saw them wrestling with him and I saw his tail lashing,” Weiss told WJCL.

We reached out to the Sea Pines’ Community Service Association and emailed questions about the Nov. 18 incident.

They didn’t answer our questions but did provide a statement that said in part, “Nuisance alligators cannot be relocated, if an alligator is deemed to be aggressive or nuisance the SCDNR permit allows Sea Pines CSA to remove and euthanize that animal.”

South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources told us in a statement: “…This allows communities to address alligator issues proactively and they can contract with removal agents directly or remove the alligator themselves, all per the terms of the permit.”

“If you need to dispose of an animal that’s dangerous and needs to be disposed of under South Carolina law, then I accept that then do it in a way that doesn’t endanger the rest of us,” Weiss said.

Weiss wishes she was alerted before armed security guards began shooting.

“Guns can misfire. Bullets can ricochet. Things can happen. And when you’re this close to residents and homes that’re occupied — you have to notify us. Take our neighbor mascot — wherever it is that you’re gonna do the deed — and don’t kill him like that. I mean it was inhumane,” Weiss said.

DNR officials told WJCL that the removal of the alligator, if deemed a threat by Sea Pines security officers, was perfectly within their legal right.

This isn’t the first time ‘Big George’ has been in the news. In April 2020, residents captured video as security had to remove the gator from one person’s yard.

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook